Studying to Advance Your Career? Empowering!

Natálie joined KBC 9 years ago while studying at university. She started off as a part-time receptionist.

 

The reception was always buzzing, and so Natálie met colleagues from different teams and departments and got a good idea of what else KBC offers. As she has always been drawn to numbers, she decided to join a finance team later on — and applied for the role internally.

 

During those years, KBC grew from 200 to 1,300 employees, and Natálie grew too. Today, she’s an experienced Financial Analyst.

Studying to Advance Your Career? Empowering!

Natálie joined KBC 9 years ago while studying at university. She started off as a part-time receptionist.

The reception was always buzzing, and so Natálie met colleagues from different teams and departments and got a good idea of what else KBC offers. As she has always been drawn to numbers, she decided to join a finance team later on — and applied for the role internally.

During those years, KBC grew from 200 to 1,300 employees, and Natálie grew too. Today, she’s an experienced Financial Analyst.

Even now, she is still pushing herself: “I didn’t study finance as such, so I decided to take the international ACCA qualification funded by KBC.” This qualification is hard to prepare for, but it advances financial professionals by equipping them with the most up-to-date skills. “I’m lucky that my team is full of smart, fun and hard-working girls; there were more of us studying for the ACCA and we supported one another,” she adds. Natálie explains that the ACCA not only gave her a better understanding of finance, it also boosted her confidence when using advanced professional English — which is great as she speaks English daily, mostly with her colleagues from Belgium. 

 

The fact that KBC offers many learning opportunities is what Natálie really enjoys. “Nobody forces you to study but once you start, it empowers you,” she explains. Recently, she took an Excel course on Power Queries to learn more about data transformation and preparation. She also undertook an English course last year: “We focused on advanced English and common mistakes made by non-native speakers.” Natálie says that although her team is Czech, all communication in KBC is in English: “I speak English in meetings with my colleagues from abroad and write all e-mails and reports in English.” She thinks it would be a shame not to make the most of this education opportunity when given a budget. 

 

Natálie spends a lot of time analysing data and drafting reports. What she really enjoys about her work are numbers. “They keep still, don’t change their mind (unlike people), and I can do whatever I want with them,” she laughs. That said, she has recently realised she wants to be around people more. “One of the greatest things about KBC are the people. Over the years, I’ve made many friends and while some of them don’t work here anymore, we’re still in touch. I don’t even have that many friends from university.” So, she has joined KBC’s Fun Committee, a voluntary initiative. “We’re always organising fun activities for our colleagues. New Year’s parties, badminton matches, ice skating. And now I’m planning our first pub quiz ever,” she sums up. There are endless possibilities of what you can do at KBC  — just find what you want and pursue it.

Even now, she is still pushing herself: “I didn’t study finance as such, so I decided to take the international ACCA qualification funded by KBC.” This qualification is hard to prepare for, but it advances financial professionals by equipping them with the most up-to-date skills. “I’m lucky that my team is full of smart, fun and hard-working girls; there were more of us studying for the ACCA and we supported one another,” she adds. Natálie explains that the ACCA not only gave her a better understanding of finance, it also boosted her confidence when using advanced professional English — which is great as she speaks English daily, mostly with her colleagues from Belgium.

The fact that KBC offers many learning opportunities is what Natálie really enjoys. “Nobody forces you to study but once you start, it empowers you,” she explains. Recently, she took an Excel course on Power Queries to learn more about data transformation and preparation. She also undertook an English course last year: “We focused on advanced English and common mistakes made by non-native speakers.” Natálie says that although her team is Czech, all communication in KBC is in English: “I speak English in meetings with my colleagues from abroad and write all e-mails and reports in English.” She thinks it would be a shame not to make the most of this education opportunity when given a budget.  

Natálie spends a lot of time analysing data and drafting reports. What she really enjoys about her work are numbers. “They keep still, don’t change their mind (unlike people), and I can do whatever I want with them,” she laughs. That said, she has recently realised she wants to be around people more. “One of the greatest things about KBC are the people. Over the years, I’ve made many friends and while some of them don’t work here anymore, we’re still in touch. I don’t even have that many friends from university.” So, she has joined KBC’s Fun Committee, a voluntary initiative. “We’re always organising fun activities for our colleagues. New Year’s parties, badminton matches, ice skating. And now I’m planning our first pub quiz ever,” she sums up. There are endless possibilities of what you can do at KBC  — just find what you want and pursue it.

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